A Girl Like You // D. Swing [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 3

Journey Hayes
Three weeks later:

"Good Afternoon, Ms. Hayes," My counselor, Mr. Watkins says as I walk into his office and take a seat in one of the chairs that was located in front of his desk. "Hey, Mr. Watkins. What's up?" I ask, giving him a warm, subtle smile in which he returned. "Oh, nothing much. Are you excited for summer break?" I smacked my lips. "Man, I've been ready for Summer break since I first stepped foot in this place," I joked and he chuckled.

Today was officially my last day of school and I was so ready load all of my shit up in my car and go. I was ready to get back home to my family, friends, and possibly a certain someone.

"I don't wanna hold you up because I'm quite sure you have some other stuff to do but I've got a letter from Duke for you." He slides the envelope across his desk towards me.

My heart pounded against my chest in anticipation and excitement when I grabbed the envelope off of the desk. I used my nail to slice the envelope open and I reached inside the envelope and I grabbed the piece of paper and I inhaled a large amount of air before opening it and reading it.

Once I reached the end of the letter, my heart was sunken to my stomach and I was a bit discouraged. "So, What happened?" I looked up at Mr. Watkins. "I didn't get in." He gives me a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry, Kid. Maybe you could transfer during second semester?" He says and I nod my head. "Yeah, I'll definitely be trying again." He smiles at me. "Well, in the meantime, we can go ahead and put together your classes for your fall semester if you would like?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, that'll be cool." I sunk in my chair a bit and I sighed. I was really discouraged about not getting in and I know there were plenty of other colleges in North Carolina I could apply to but that would defeat part of my purpose of transferring anyways.

I should've just gone when I had the chance

Mr. Watkins stood up and he went over to his file cabinet and he opened it up before flipping through a few file folders and eventually, he found the one he wanted and he flipped through that and grabbed a piece of paper before shutting his file cabinet and walking back over to his desk, sitting down in his chair and sliding the paper over to me.

"Just go ahead and circle the five classes that catch your interest then go ahead and sign your name. We'll be mailing out schedules about a week before school starts. Your addresses are still the same, right?" I nod my head and grabbed a pen out of the array he had resting in a coffee mug that was on his desk. I read over the paper and bit the inside of my cheek while I carefully selected my class options.

Once I was done, I signed my name and slid the paper over to him before returning his pen to the correct place and I stood up, adjusting my jeans. "Well, Mr. Watkins, I'll see you in August." I gave him a smile and he returned it.

"Indeed. Enjoy your summer, Ms. Hayes." He says and I thank him before exiting his office and returning to my dorm to pack the remainder of my things. Tonight I'd be staying at Sunny's house before hitting the road early in the morning to make my way back down to North Cackalackin'. I was hella anxious, as well as nervous but I was still excited

When I walked into Sunny's, I saw Quinita sitting on the couch, watching old re-runs of the show 227 while painting her toenails a bright, neon pink color. She tore her attention away from what she was doing and she looked at me. "Hey, JJ. How was your last day of school?" She asks. "Alright, I guess. Where's Sunny?" I asked while kicking my shoes off and setting my keys on the table. "She went to the store to get some things for dinner." I nodded my head and made my way to the kitchen to find something to munch on before dinner.

Quinita and I still weren't exactly on speaking terms, but since she basically lived here at Sunny's and I'm down here pretty often, co-existence was necessary. Not only for us but for Ruby, Max, and Sunny as well because it's unfair to them to have to be in a hostile and tensional environment. Once I retrieved my snack, which happened to be some Graham crackers, I went into my bedroom and shut the door behind me before plopping down onto my bed and grabbing my phone to call my Dad.